For Lamoille Community Connections (LCC), formerly known as Lamoille County Mental Health, energy saved is money saved ‘ a welcome benefit for a non-profit organization providing high-quality developmental and mental health services to area residents. The Morrisville-based agency, which employs 200 and serves more than 800 clients, decided to optimize energy efficiency when it consolidated its four office locations into one new office space in an historic building in Lamoille County.
Lamoille Community Connections partnered with Wayne’s Electric, a local family-owned business, and Efficiency Vermont to improve lighting quality for its staff and clients. LCC had Wayne’s Electric install energy-efficient lights throughout the 30,000 square feet of the new space, formerly a nursing home which sat vacant for two years before LCC decided to move in from around the corner.
The majority of the building ‘ offices, corridors, reception, and restrooms ‘ was renovated. LCC switched out older and less efficient T-12’s and incandescents to higher-efficiency, higher-quality lighting systems with T-5 fixtures, occupancy sensors, and daylight sensors.
All told, the lighting measures will help Lamoille Community Connections save 66,000 kWh annually, which translates to an estimated annual cost savings of $8,500.
Efficiency Vermont suggested switching out T-12 lights because they have several disadvantages: they have poor light quality that tends to flicker, they usually contain more mercury than newer models, and they have older generation electronics making them difficult to control with occupancy and dimming technologies, a problem for businesses where the lights don't have to be on all day.
Installing occupancy sensors and dimmers offers an opportunity to reduce lighting levels when spaces are not in use, decreasing the amount of energy and money needed to illuminate an area. Savi Van Sluytman, CEO of LCC, notes that employees and clients appreciate the ease and comfort provided by the sensors. The effortlessness of walking in and out of a room and having the lights automatically turn on or off makes it that much simpler for everyone to focus on serving their clients’ needs.
‘We have received an overwhelmingly positive response to our new space and its new lights,’ said Van Sluytman. ‘And what we save in energy expenses, we can funnel back toward our services to make Lamoille Community Connections an even stronger partner in the health of the greater Morrisville community.’
At the first open house for the building in August 2009, the community noted the improvement in lighting. Van Sluytman explains that several community partners were inspired by LCC’s efficiency work and were hopeful they could achieve energy savings in their own buildings.
"We’re proud to have helped Lamoille Community Connections take an old, vacant building and renovate it into an efficient space that improves the building and the comfort of those who work there and are served there,’ said Pat Haller, energy consultant at Efficiency Vermont.
LCC’s work with Efficiency Vermont shows that you can make the old new again and ‘ with some ingenuity and energy efficiency incorporated from the outset ‘ it’s possible to create a space that better serves people and the bottom line.